Phosphate Leasing, Caribou National Forest, Caribou County, ID

SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS), Caribou

National Forest, and the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land

Management (BLM), Idaho Falls District, will jointly prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposal to issue two new

phosphate leases within the Caribou National Forest. The Dairy Syncline

Tract lies about 13 air miles east of Soda Springs, Idaho, and the

Manning Creek Tract lies about 14 air miles southwest of Afton,

Wyoming. If a lease(s) is issued pursuant to the mineral leasing

regulations at 43 CFR part 3500, the lessee has a right to develop a

mine and necessary ancillary facilities for the purposes of mining the

phosphate ore reserves within the lease boundaries. However, before

actual mining could occur, the lessee would be required to obtain an

approved mining and reclamation plan, which would require a NEPA

document addressing the site specific proposed mine development.

SCOPING PROCEDURE: The scoping procedure to be used for this EIS has or

will involve the following: a wide-scale mailing asking for comments,

issues and concerns to interested and potentially affected individuals,

groups, Federal, State, and local governments; public information

gathering meetings; news releases; and a scoping meeting. The scoping

meeting will be held in Chubbuck, Idaho on Monday, November 21, 1994,

at 7:00 p.m. in the Aspen-Willow Room, Days Inn, 133 West Burnside

Avenue. Public information meetings were announced in a newsletter by

the EIS contractor and held in Pocatello and Soda Springs, Idaho and

Afton, Wyoming on October 18-20, 1994, respectively.

DATE: Written comments concerning the scope of the analysis described

in this Notice should be received by December 12, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions to Steve Robison,

Caribou National Forest, 250 South 4th Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions concerning the proposed action and EIS should be directed to

Steve Robison, Geologist, Caribou National Forest, 250 South 4th

Avenue, Pacatello, Idaho 83201, phone: (208) 236-7573, or Dennis Hoyem,

Environmental Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, 940 Lincoln Rd.,

Idaho Falls, Idaho, phone: (208) 524-7525.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has

received proposals to lease two parcels of land for the development and

mining of phosphate reserves within the Caribou National Forest (FS).

The 1920 Leasing Act, as amended, gives the primary responsibility for

leasing of solid minerals, like phosphate, to the BLM, even though the

surface of the lands may be administered by other agencies such as the

FS. The FS develops recommendations to the BLM concerning whether or

not leases should be issued, and if so, what stipulations or mitigation

measures should be included with each lease to protect the surface

resources. Although the BLM decision to be made based on this EIS (the

FS only makes recommendations) is whether or not to lease the two

proposed Tracts, and if so, under what conditions, lease issuance

confers a right to mine. Therefore, the anticipated impacts from mining

and transportation of the ore must also be analyzed in this EIS.

These Tracts have only received sufficient exploration to determine

the presence of mineable phosphate ore and rough estimates of ore

reserves. Because of this limited information, and because there is no

lessee that has developed a site-specific mining and reclamation plan,

only conceptual mine plans have been developed for analysis in this

EIS. The ore from both Tracts would be removed by surface mining

methods.

The proposed Dairy Syncline Tract contains 3,380 acres, with

preliminary phosphate ore reserves estimated at about 20 million tons.

Phosphate rock mined from the Tract would probably be transported to

primary users (phosphate fertilizer or elemental phosphorus plants) by

one of the following methods: hauling ore by truck or conveyor to

existing railroad loading facilities located about 4.5 road miles from

the Tract; by building a new railroad spur to the Tract (about 5-7 road

miles depending on where loading facilities were located); or by the

development of a slurry pipeline (it could parallel an existing slurry

pipeline for all but about 4 miles of its length). About 14 miles of

existing road into the area may need to be upgraded to accommodate mine

related traffic (not ore haul), and new power/phone lines to the lease

Tract area would need to be constructed. Mine life for this lease Tract

is estimated at 10-20 years, depending on annual mine production.

The proposed Manning Creek Tract covers 2,000 acres, with

preliminary estimated phosphate ore reserves in the range of 18-50

million tons. Mineable reserves may be about 30 million tons. The lease

Tract could be developed as an extension of an existing, operating

mine, or ore could be transported from the lease Tract in a slurry

pipeline. Based on the phosphate ore reserves in the proposed leases,

the following options do not appear to be economically feasible at this

time: build a phosphate processing plant near the lease Tract; build a

railroad facility to the lease Tract area; or transport the ore to

existing railroad facilities or phosphate plants by means other than a

slurry pipeline. If this proposed lease Tract were to be developed

separate from the existing mine, as many as 8 miles of new pipeline may

be necessary to reach an existing slurry line corridor, about 5 miles

of new mine access road would be required, as many as 7 miles of

existing road upgraded to accommodate mine traffic (not ore haul), and

new power/phone lines built. Mine life is estimated to be 10-25 years.

This EIS will tier to the final EIS for the caribou National Forest

Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). The Caribou Forest

Plan provides the overall guidance (Goals, Objectives, Standards, and

Management Area direction) to achieve the Desired Future Condition for

the area being analyzed, and contains specific management area

prescriptions for the entire Forest.

Preparation of the EIS will include the following steps:

1. Define the purpose of and need for action.

2. Identify potential issues.

3. Eliminate issues of minor importance or those that have been

covered by previous and relevant environmental analysis.

4. Select issues to be analyzed in depth.

5. Identify reasonable alternatives to the proposed action.

6. Describe the affected environment.

7. Identify the potential environmental effects of the

alternatives.

Steps 2, 3, and 4 have started and will be completed through the

scoping process.

Step 5 will consider a range of alternatives developed from the key

issues. Four alternatives have been drafted to date:

Alternative 1, no lease or the no action alternative.

Alternative 2, issue both leases as delineated (proposed action).

Alternative 3, issue the Manning Creek lease only.

Alternative 4, issue the Dairy Syncline lease only.

Other alternatives could be developed based on key issues.

Step 6 will describe the physical attributes of the area to be

affected by this proposal, with special attention to the environmental

factors that could be adversely affected.

Step 7 will analyze the environmental effects of each alternative.

This analysis will be consistent with management direction outlined in

the Forest Plan. The direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of each

alternative will be analyzed and documented. In addition, the site

specific mitigation measures for each alternative will be identified

and the effectiveness of these mitigation measures will be disclosed.

The Forest Service and BLM are seeking information and comments

from Federal, State and local agencies as well as individuals and

organizations who may be interested in, or affected by, the proposed

action as part of the scoping process. The scoping process is designed

to guide project analysis and documentation and obtain input to

identify significant issues and alternatives to the proposal. The EIS

will consider a range of alternatives based on the issues, concerns and

opportunities identified for the project. Comments should be submitted

to the Forest Service within 30 days from the date of publication of

this Notice in the Federal Register.

The estimated date for completion of the draft EIS is June, 1995. A

public meeting(s) will be held in conjunction with the issuance of the

draft EIS. The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the

date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of

availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service and BLM believe it is important to give

reviewers notice at this early stage in the process of court rulings

related to public participation in the environmental review process.

Reviewers of draft EISs must structure their participation in the

environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and

alerts the agencies to the reviewers' position and contentions. Vermont

Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978).

Environmental objections that could have been raised at the draft stage

may be waived if not raised until after completion of the final EIS.

City of Angoon v. Hodel, (9th Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages,

Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). We mention

these court cases to ensure that substantive comments and objections

are made available to the BLM and FS at a time when they can

meaningfully consider them and respond in the Final EIS.

To assist the Forest Service and BLM in identifying and considering

issues and concerns related to the proposed action, comments for

scoping, and later for the draft EIS, should be as specific as

possible. It would be helpful if comments on the draft EIS refer to

specific pages or chapters of the draft or the merits of the

alternatives formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may

wish to refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental

Policy Act, 40 CFR 1503.3, in addressing these points.

The final EIS is expected to be available in December, 1995.

The BLM Idaho State Director, who is the responsible official for

the EIS, will then make a decision regarding this proposal,

considering: FS recommendations; comments; responses; anticipated

environmental consequences discussed in the Final EIS; and applicable

laws regulations, and policies. The reasons for the decision will be

documented in the Record of Decision.

Dated: November 3, 1994.

Harold W. Klein,

Acting Forest Supervisor, Caribou National Forest.

Jeff S. Steele,

Area Manager, Pocatello Resource Area.

[FR Doc. 94-27882 Filed 11-9-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M